Come Back to Me
by briannawrites
Summary: In a hasty attempt to win back the love of her life, Eve Torres has to face the reality that she didn't know existed. One-shot sequel to "Right Where We Belong".


_Come Back to Me_

* * *

When things go sour, sometimes it takes a kick in the gut to knock you to your senses.

Eve was never the same after Mike left. Things were always changing, and she couldn't keep up with them. First, she would lose her job and then her friends. It took her all of the way to almost getting arrested for driving under the influence before she realized that she just couldn't do it.

Living in a world without Mike was too hard.

And, the thought of him being thousands of miles away in Cleveland didn't help.

Her mind kept wandering back to that day when he left. All of the words they said, the final hug goodbye: it was so long ago yet the wounds hadn't healed. Mike was her oxygen, and she was barely hanging onto her final breath.

That's why she needed this meeting with him. That's why she waged a war with herself to call him and tell him that she needed to see him. Once he finally agreed, she could breathe again.

But, she knew the relief would only last so long.

If she really needed him now, she knew that she would need him months from now. Years down the road, would she still be struggling, gasping for air? She needed more than a meeting, she needed an agreement. And agreement that he needed her too, and an agreement that he would stay with her.

So, today Eve would be meeting up with Mike for lunch at their old favorite diner. It was a little beaten up, but it was enough to give Eve some hope that he would remember all of the good times they had and eventually decide to stay around.

She decided to wear the outfit she wore that day he left. It wasn't very elegant or classy, but it was her: a simple pair of jeans and a tank top.

It was a beautiful day, which gave her even more hope as to what was going to happen. Maybe if he saw how lovely the town still was, he'd decided to stay for that too. Her mind was filled with thoughts like this, all giving her so much hope.

But, it wasn't until she saw him that she really knew he would stay.

"Mike..." His name rolled off of her lips, feeling so good to say. She stood up to greet him, melting into his arms in a hug.

"I've missed you so much." He whispered into her deep brown hair, hugging her tightly.

"You have no idea how mutual the feeling is." Eve told him, finally letting go and looking up into his eyes.

The two former lovers sat down at their usual table next to the window.

"How is Cleveland?" Eve asked, trying to make conversation.

"It's the same." He said. Truth be told, he felt different. "What about here?"

She nodded. "The same."

It took both of them a few seconds to realize that this was quickly going down the drain. Mike looked over at his former girlfriend and sighed.

"Eve...what is this all about?" He asked.

"What? You don't want to have lunch with me?" She looked down, reasonably embarrassed.

"No. That's not what I meant." He reached across the table and rested his hands upon the brunette's. "You're wearing that outfit, this is our old diner, and our song is playing in the background."

Eve began to blush as she listened carefully to the song that was playing on repeat thanks to her expensive tip to the manager.

"I just missed you, that's all." She faked a smile. "It's been so hard, not having you around."

"I've felt the same way." He rubbed her hand gently with his thumb. "But, you know why we broke up."

Her heart dropped. "Maryse hasn't come around in months. I think she left town." She reassured him.

"But, who is stopping her from coming back?"

Confused, Eve looked at Mike in his bright blue eyes. "Why don't you want to come back to me, Mike? I love you so much and I haven't stopped since you left." She confessed, feeling tears begin to form.

He hushed her and moved onto her side of the booth. "Eve, I will always love you. I haven't stopped thinking about you since I left either."

Eve took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. "Then, why don't you come back to me?" She looked up into his eyes once more, this time staring at him deeply. She needed him to stay, but with every word she could feel the oxygen being taken away.

Mike was at a loss for words. "I don't know how to say this."

"Say what?"

He released the built up air in his lungs and turned to face her. "I met someone."

That was all it took for her entire world to come crashing down, theoretically but she could feel the pain building in her chest with every heavy breath she took. She thought that this luncheon would be difficult, but in a beautifully wonderful way. Instead, he was taking her world and turning it inside out.

"Someone," she echoed. "You met someone."

He nodded before taking his hands back and setting them down in his lap. "She's really great."

Her hands were shaking as she wiped a tear away before it could fall all the way down off of her cheek. "Oh." Standing up, she ran out of the diner faster than she thought she was physically capable of doing.

"Eve!" He chased after her, following her out into the back alleyway where she was hunched over, resting her hand on a small table that had probably been sitting out in the alley for months. "Eve..."

"Don't." She stopped him before he could reach out and touch her, something that he was planning on doing before she held out her hand.

Sighing, Mike raked a hand through his short hair. "Eve, I don't know what I can say that will make you feel better. We've been broken up for months, I thought you would be happy for me."

"Happy? Happy for you?" She repeated, looking back up at him. "I never wanted us to break up in the first place, and now you're off moving on like nothing ever happened between us!" She was still crying, but managing to hold back the tears long enough for her to get the words out of her mouth.

Mike shook his head and tried to keep himself calm enough to talk. "I will always love you."

"You will always have loved me." She corrected.

There were so many things that he could say, but there wasn't anything that came to mind. At the very moment that he wanted to comfort her, he found that everything he said and did repulsed her. He went back and forth with himself, debating on what he should do. Eventually, he just followed as the brunette sat down on the curb, covering her face with her hands.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. Eve could tell that he wasn't sure of what he should do.

"Me too." Her voice was raw and rasped, but she said it. "I just wish you would've told me all of this over a phone call."

Opting not to chuckle at her statement, Mike reached over and draped his arm around her shoulders. She felt so safe, sitting in his arms, even though she knew that it wasn't going to last much longer.

"So, this is it." Eve turned and looked into Mike's blue eyes, trying to read his thoughts. "We're just going to go on with our separate lives now." It was technically a question, but she knew the answer, making it come out as a direct statement.

Mike sighed and pulled the brunette closer to him so that she was practically sitting on him.

"I don't know, Eve." He paused, looking out over the fence that guarded the old diner's alley from a suburban neighborhood and out at the clouds that were racing each other through the sky. "I just don't know."

* * *

Years and years passed, and nothing seemed to change much for Eve Torres. Ever since her final encounter with Mike, she'd been living alone in her apartment with a more positive outlook on life. She stopped drowning in sorrow and started thriving in faith.

Sure, she was still single and she desperately wanted a lasting relationship, but she also held onto the painful past tightly.

After their final goodbye, Eve hadn't heard anything from Mike and she figured that it wasn't going to happen anytime soon. In fact, if anything, she was beginning to move on. She was no longer reminding herself of their past on a daily basis, instead she was living in the present tense.

But, no matter how many goodbyes keep them apart, one thing will always remain the same.

They love each other.


End file.
